Road Trip
by caughtbythelight2
Summary: Piper and Thalia take a road trip and meet a mysterious fortune teller.


**Hey guys this is my first story ever on this site! I hope you guys enjoy it!**

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"Damn it Piper, this is the fourth time you've made me pull over in the past two hours! We're never going to reach the hotel before dark!"

"Oh c'mon, it'll be fun. We'll just check it out, and then we can leave," Piper pleaded.

"That's what you said last time," Thalia groaned.

"Please. I'll do anything you want when we get to the hotel," Piper said, leaning over the console and peppering Thalia's neck with hot open mouth kisses.

"Anything I want?"

"Anything, Piper replied breathlessly, now nibbling on her ear.

"I'm gonna hold you to that promise," Thalia said, getting out of the car. "C'mon, lets go check this place out."

The couple had been planning this road trip for months. They had been thinking about possible vacation spots in the U.S but they couldn't decide on one until Annabeth suggested the idea of a road trip across the states.

"Why don't you guys just take a road trip?" Annabeth had asked. "That way you can see everything and you don't have to pick just one destination. I'll even help you guys map out a route and everything."

Annabeth had done a really good job at mapping out a route for them that perfectly labeled all their destinations, the hotels they would be staying in, and historical and interesting landmarks they could check out. Too bad it went to waste.

Piper was always getting distracted by roadside attractions that she thought were cool and interesting. Although Thalia thought these places were run down and beat-up, she secretly liked going to these kinds of places with Piper. She liked to see her girlfriend's kaleidoscope eyes widen and brighten with excitement when she finds a place or store that she thinks she might like. She loved seeing her happy.

They were currently standing outside of a sketchy looking fortune teller shop that Piper had pointed out to. The paint was beginning to peel and fade. It looked as if nobody had set foot in the shop in decades. The green neon sign above read: **ESMERALDA's FAMOUS FORTUNES**.

"Well lets go inside and see if Esmeraldas' in, Thalia grumbled.

The couple walks in and is immediately hit with a coat of dust and the smell of rotting wood.

"Piper, I swear to god this is the last time we take a detour," Thalia exclaimed , covering her face with her arm.

"Agreed," coughed out Piper, "Let's just take a look and be on our way."

The couple split up and looked around the shop. The store was bleak and gray. The lights overhead shone faintly, giving the store a haunted house vibe. Thalia inspected the shelves, checking out the shop's merchandise. Esmeralda had a bunch of items that Thalia thought were useless in determining one's fortune. Dream catchers, spirits boards, and magic 8 balls littered the dusty shelves.

"Hey Piper, can you believe all the junk she has in here?" Thalia said, reaching for an 8 ball, "I bet none of this stuff even –" Thalia was cut off by Piper's shriek.

Thalia dropped the 8 ball and scrambled toward the sound of Piper's voice, knocking over cheap merchandise in the process.

"Piper! Piper, where are you?" Thalia shouted.

"I'm here," Piper said, "I'm fine. I was just startled by um, what did you say your name was again?"

Thalia trotted towards Piper's voice and saw a tall, willowy woman standing near Piper.

"I am Esmeralda, my dears. Welcome to my shop."

Thalia's hand unconsciously wavered toward her bracelet, Aegis. She didn't feel right about Esmeralda.

The woman had a quiet air of power about her. Her hair was not unlike Hazel's except the color was as black as Thalia's. The lady had a wide, easygoing smile and her eyes had wrinkles around them, which suggested she smiled a lot. Her face was round and young but that didn't lessen their caution. They knew gods and monsters could appear and pass as ordinary mortals. Her forest green robes was so silky, it seemed to ripple, as if the cloth was ink spilling off her shoulders.

"Peace demigods," Esmeralda said, "I mean you no harm. I merely wanted to offer my services."

"How do you know that we are demigods?" Piper asked, lacing a bit of charmspeak in her voice.

"Because I am one too. I am a daughter of Hecate, goddess of magic," Esmeralda replied easily.

"How can we trust you? Thalia growled at her, "For all we know you could be a monster".

"I assure you demigod, I am no monster," Esmeralda stated, "I merely tell fortunes".

"C'mon Thalia let's hear our fortunes!" Piper exclaimed.

"Tell you what, I'll read your fortunes free of charge," Esmeralda said quickly.

"Oh c'mon Thalia it's a free reading! What's the harm in one free reading?" Piper pleaded.

Piper looked at her, her eyes growing wider as she pulled her patented wounded puppy look that Thalia could never resist.

"Oh for Hades sake," Thalia groaned. "Fine, but just one reading for each of us and then we are leaving."

"Excellent choice ladies. Please follow me to the back," Esmeralda said.

The girls followed the fortune teller towards the back of the shop, past a doorway covered by a deep purple curtain. Esmeralda pushed back the curtain to reveal her back room. It looked almost like an exact replica of the Hecate cabin back at camp. Shelves crammed with spell books, a big black cauldron in the corner, a cabinet stocked full of ingredients, what seemed to be a broadsword replica over the fireplace, and a giant wooden round table in the center of the room. The torches burned red, giving off light and warmth.

"Please, have a seat at my table my dears,"Esmeralda said with a smile.

The girls took a seat the table, facing Esmeralda. Esmeralda sat down across from them and asked, "So who would like to go first?"

"I will," Piper said.

"So how does this work exactly?" Thalia asked sarcastically. "Do you have a crystal ball that you use or what?"

"No, nothing so trivial," Esmeralda replied, ignoring the skepticism. "I will be reading your palms".

"That sounds cool," Piper said. "So what do I have to do?"

"Just place your hands in mine, palms face up please," Esmeralda replied.

Piper placed her hands in Esmeraldas, looking up expectantly at her.

Esmeralda closed her eyes and began to mutter Latin phrases and incantations. Thalia watched with rapt attention as she listened to Esmeralda. Thalia wasn't fluent in Latin but she caught a few words: _past, destiny, fate_. The words rang in Thalia's ears. Esmeralda had not lied; she was a daughter of Hecate. This was a true foretelling.

Esmeralda opened her eyes and began tracing the lines on Piper's hand. Piper shuddered at the cold touch of the fortune teller.

"Well?" Piper asked. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

"You have led a remarkable life, Piper Mclean. You have had a very strained relationship with a parental, but you managed to make the most of it.

Piper looked down at her hands. After the war, Piper had hopped on the first plane back to San Francisco to talk with her dad. Leo had offered to go with her for moral support, but declined. This was something she had to do on her own. She remembered sitting down with her father in their huge house, and coming clean; Piper telling him about camp, and gods, and finally the potion she had used on him. She had regretted using the potion on him, and felt guilty making him worry about where she had been. They had both cried during the conversation and were now on better terms. It wasn't a perfect relationship but it was better than what they had.

Esmeralda slowly traced patterns on Piper's palms. "You are the type of person to care very much for you friends, aren't you? You are hyper aware of your friends' feelings and seem to know exactly what they need," Esmeralda said, observing Piper's palms.

Piper remembered back to a few weeks after the war. Leo had been acting strangely that entire week. She had snuck into Bunker 9 to find him, back turned to her, packing a small bag.

"Planning on going somewhere Valdez?, she had asked.

Leo jumped in surprise, knocking over the contents of his bag. She reached down and picked up a plane ticket and inspected it.

"Houston?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

Leo looked down at the floor and said quietly, "It's my mom's birthday next week."

Piper's heart broke a little as she moved forward to grasp Leo's hands.

"Do you want me to come with you? She had asked him quietly.

Leo was quiet for a few moments then he had replied "Now that I think about it, I've always wanted her to meet you. You're my family too.

Piper may have cried a little bit at that. Leo wasn't the type to get mushy.

The pair had flown out to Houston the next day and visited the cemetery where Esperanza Valdez was buried. They walked hand in hand, silently until they reached her headstone. Leo had kneeled down and placed the sunflowers on her grave.

"Happy Birthday Mom, Leo said as he took a seat in front of the headstone. Piper kneeled down beside him, squeezing his hand tightly, letting him know that she was there for him.

"I met dad like you said I would, Leo said. He said he was proud of me, proud of who I've become. I like to think that you would be proud of me too.

Leo paused a bit then said, "There's someone I want you to meet. Her name is Piper and she is the greatest person in my life. She's always been there for me when I needed her, slapped some sense into me when I needed it, and she always checks in on me when I lock myself away in Bunker 9."

Leo nudged her with his elbow and nodded toward the stone, as if giving her permission to speak.

"Hi, Miss Valdez. You have a wonderful son, and I am so lucky to have him in my life. He is the best friend I could ask for. He always knows how to cheer me up when I'm down, he always makes me laugh, and he never fails to be there when I need him. "I wish I could have been able to meet the amazing woman who gave me my best friend in person. I'll take good care of him, Miss Valdez".

The wind blew, as if acknowledging Piper's words.

"Goodbye Mom, Leo said standing up. We'll come visit you again soon."

Piper's eyes watered at the memory. She loved Leo dearly and she knew he felt the same about her. They were friends before they knew they were demigods and they would be friends in the Elysium too.

"Piper, are you okay?" Thalia asked, concerned about the tears in her girlfriend's eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just got a little emotional," Piper said chuckling.

"You can continue," Piper said in Esmeralda's direction. "I'm okay."

Esmeralda looked thoughtfully at Piper and began tracing patterns on Piper's palms again.

"Hmm, it seems you had lost love but you have found it again", Esmeralda said grinning slyly at the couple.

Piper felt a blush creep up her neck. She hadn't told Thalia about just how deep her feelings went. She was just waiting for the right moment.

Next to her, Thalia's mind was racing. _"Does Piper love me? She wondered. How long has she loved me? And more importantly why hasn't she told me yet?"_

"Piper, your fortune is as good as I've ever read. You have suffered losses, as we all must, but you have managed to grow through them and not let the past define you. You should be proud of yourself Piper, few people in this world learn from their past and make a better future from it."

Piper was happy about her fortune. In a way, she felt like she knew herself a bit better. She had grown so much from girl that had stolen a BMW for her father's attention. She had changed, and she had changed for the better.

"Thalia, would you like to go next?" questioned Esmeralda.

"Fine, let's get this over with so we can get out of here," Thalia quipped.

"Place your hands in mine so we can begin," Esmeralda said.

Thalia hesitantly placed her hands in Esmeralda's, shivering at the coldness of them.

Esmeralda closed her eyes and once again, began muttering Latin incantations under her breath. This time Thalia was able to catch a few more words of Esmeralda's spells: _life, foretell, future_. Esmeralda slowly opened her eyes and looked at Thalia sadly.

"My, my. You have suffered so much grief at such a young age. The loss of your brother has deeply affected you."

Thalia visibly flinched at Esmeralda's words. "_How could she possibly know about Jason?" she thought. _She remembered that day vividly. The memory of searching all over the park for him, the rage she felt at her mother for giving Jason up. All those memories and feelings rushed back to her, causing the air in the room to turn stormy. The torches flickered and nearly went out.

Piper put a calming hand on Thalia's shoulder. Almost instantly the air returned to normal. Thalia turned her head to look at Piper gratefully. Piper smiled at her, her eyes telling her, "_It's okay. You got him back now". _

Esmeralda looked at Thalia and asked, "Do you want to continue?

Thalia nodded her head in agreement. "Sorry about the little outburst," she said apologizing.

"No worries my dear, no worries," Esmeralda said, waving her hand.

Esmeralda began tracing the patterns on Thalia's hand again, "It seems you found peace after the loss of your brother. You found a family."

Thalia smiled inwardly, thinking of the day she and Luke found Annabeth. She still considered some of those days the best of her life. Although they were always dirty, hungry, and on the run from monsters, Thalia could never keep a smile off her face. For the first time since Jason had disappeared, Thalia was happy.

"Oh my, betrayed by the one you love most, and a deep sense of regret," Esmeralda said sadly.

Thalia's blood ran cold. She thought about the day she had been revived from her tree on Half-Blood Hill. Annabeth had tearfully told her about all she had missed, including Luke's betrayal. Thalia didn't, _wouldn't_ believe it. She knew Luke might betray the gods, but he would _never_ betray her. She remembered all those whispered conversations they had, long after Annabeth had fallen asleep. She and Luke would curse the gods, hating their parentage. If they were the sons and daughters of gods, why were they sleeping in an alley? Why weren't they living in palaces made of gold, eating the finest foods, instead of barely filling their stomachs day in and day out?

She remembered the last time she saw Luke. She looked down upon his broken, mangled body. She had wanted to speak with him, to talk and clear the air. Luke wasn't interested in talking; only trying to persuade her into joining him. After the Battle of Olympus, she and Annabeth had a talk. Annabeth told her about what happened in the throne room while Thalia was pinned under Hera's statue. All throughout Annabeth's story, Thalia began to resent her a little bit. Annabeth got closure with Luke, an actual conversation with him rather than the fight she had with him. She regretted fighting with him. She could have found another way, tried harder to convince him to talk. There were so many things she never got to say to him.

Thalia was starting to get really angry. Every word out of the fortune teller's mouth was pissing her off. She already _knew_ that her life was going to be screwed up ever since she was found out she was the daughter of Zeus. Demigods didn't lead happy lives and that couldn't have been truer for Thalia. She understood that life wasn't fair and demigods even less so. What was making her so angry was the fact that the woman wasn't saying anything good about her. _Don't I have any good qualities? _she thought_. Aren't I a good person? _And the worst: _Piper deserves much better than me. _She was done here.

Thalia forcefully ripped her palms away from Esmeralda and quickly stood up, knocking the rickety old table onto its side. She could feel her eyes beginning to water as she marched towards the front of the shop. She could hear Piper calling for her on her way out, but she didn't care. All she wanted to do was get out of that stupid shop.

She angrily opened the car door and slammed it shut. She sat for a few minutes in the car, furiously blinking the tears away. Does Piper think that about her? Does she think that she's doomed to a horrible life of losing everything she holds near and dear? A person with nothing good about them, destined by the Fates to have the worst luck ever?

She was done thinking about this. She opened up the console and took out one of Piper's favorite albums: _Native Dreamer Kin_. She and Piper always fought about music. This was one of the few albums that Thalia liked out of Piper's collection. She popped the cd in and _Not Mine_ begins to play.

She was beginning to worry. Why wasn't Piper coming out? What the hell could she possibly be doing still talking to the wretched woman?

"_Who will stay? Who will stay? Who will stay?"_

"_All of my days – who will stay? Who will stay?"_

Finally she sees Piper leaving the store and waving farewell to Esmeralda.

"Goodbye Piper Mclean!" Esmeralda said, "May you find fortune on your journey!"

Piper walked over to the passenger door and got into the car with a smile on her face. Her ears perked up as she listened to the music coming from the speakers.

"Wow, I thought you didn't like my music," Piper said smugly.

"I don't," Thalia replied hotly. "I wasn't looking when I put the CD in."

The couple sits in an awkward silence for a while. Thalia was about to ask her what she was doing in there with that despicable woman when Piper reaches over the console to grab her hand.

She softly asks "Do you want to talk about it?"

That's all it takes for Thalia to start tearing up. Her eyes start to water and she's furiously rubbing her eyes trying to stem the salty tears from falling from her face.

"You know you can talk to me about it, right? Piper questions. "Thalia just tell me what's wron –," Piper was cut off by Thalia asking, "Do you ever think that you can do better than me?"

"What do you mean?" Piper asks tenderly.

"I mean, don't you think that you could find someone better than me?" Thalia sputters out. "You heard Esmeralda. My life is just one big screw up after another. You shouldn't be dating someone who's cursed to lose everything meaningful in her life; someone who has no good qualities about them."

"Piper you are so out of my league," Thalia says quietly. "Everything Esmeralda said about you was true. You are so smart and such a good friend and just an all-around good person. And I'm… not. I just don't think I'm good enough for you."

Throughout Thalia's entire rant, Piper just sits quietly beside her, holding her hand and stroking it with her thumb, listening intently. When Thalia's finished, Piper leans forward and cups Thalia's face in her soft, firm hands and looks her right in her eyes.

"None of that is true, not one bit," Piper says reassuringly. "I don't think you're cursed. I just think you've had a life rougher than most. You've had so much taken away from you and that sucks, but it's made you tough and it's made you strong and made you who you are. I would never ask you to be someone else. You can't possibly think that I could love anyone else right?" Piper questioned.

"You didn't even get to hear the best part of the fortune. Esmeralda talked about how brave you were, sacrificing yourself for Annabeth and Luke. She talked about how selfless you were, taking care of Jason when you were just a kid yourself. She talked about what a dedicated and caring friend you were. You have good qualities Thalia. I wouldn't date you if I didn't think you were a good person. I mean yeah you're loud, sometimes obnoxious, and your music taste leaves much to be desired," Piper said with a smile.

"But you're also beautiful, bold, proud, and the person I fell in love with," Piper said, placing a kiss onto her knuckles, her shoulder, her forehead, and finally her lips, "I wouldn't have you any other way".

Thalia felt her face grow hot as she took in Piper's words.

"You… you love me?" Thalia whispered.

Piper looked at her skeptically. "Of course I love you. I don't take road trips with just anyone, dummy."

Thalia leans forward and captures Piper's lips with her own, her hands tangling themselves in Piper's choppy braids. Piper loved her. Piper _loved _her. Thalia felt her heart soar. She felt so light, so relieved to have found someone that she loved and that loved her too.

After a few moments, Thalia leans back and whispers, "I love you too."

Piper's smile widens at Thalia's words and she leans forward to give her girlfriend a chaste kiss.

Piper pulls away and says with a smirk, "C'mon let's get going. I want to reach the hotel and show you just how much I love you."

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